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Author Topic: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea  (Read 3692 times)

oggsmash

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astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« on: June 23, 2021, 09:02:02 AM »
    Anyone here run/play this?  I am a bit of a collector, and I missed this when they had a volume of books in print, and am waiting for them to print another run of books.  What core mechanic does the game run on?  The art looks like it was taken directly from a marriage of Savage Sword of Conan and DCC.   The art alone makes the game look like something I would be willing to play.   Whether I play it or not, I think it will look good on the book shelf beside the others.

JeffB

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2021, 09:27:18 AM »
It is a cross between AD&D and OD&D with some unique spins on mechanics and classes. Jeff T did a brilliant job on this.

It is a humanocentric setting that is Swords, Sorcery, Cthulhu, and some weird science.

I've owned the first edition forever, and own several of the adventures. I don't play the game as a whole (I ran some of the adventures back when I got them) as I find it a little too dense compared to other TSR D&D based games, but I've stolen plenty of ideas and some mechanics from it. Like DCC RPG, it's a great idea mine, even if you don't play it.

Aesthetically, I prefer the unified (amazing!) art of the 1st edition. I have the PDF of the 2nd edition but never did anything with it- it seemed "fluffed up" with presnetation and art mainly, but did add a fair amount of new stuff (classes, etc). The art is good in the 2E book but it the styles vary in significant ways, and IMO is jarring to look through. YMMV.

I don't think I'll go in for the 3E KS when it's live, just because I know it would be a shelf queen and see little use.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2021, 09:29:35 AM by JeffB »

Slambo

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2021, 11:39:11 AM »
I like ASSH very much, its one of my favorite systems. Its rules are quite dense, and it expresses a few mechanics a bit different than normal (it has descending AC but uses an ascending score called Fighting ability instead of something like THAC0 which for whatever reason took me a second to get used to).

Normally im not a huge fan of built in settings, but i think the Hyperborea setting is very cool too. 8t and DCC are probably my top two systems

Naburimannu

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #3 on: June 23, 2021, 11:44:49 AM »
I think "a little too dense" is a great description. I liked the worldbuilding, but felt like I would rather play a house-ruled ACKS or 5e in that (kind of) world than something that read like "1e + lots of specialised caster classes".

Merrill
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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2021, 06:35:55 PM »
I have played it a couple times at conventions with J. Talanian as DM

It was a lot of fun: pretty fast moving, with clever integration of "Weird Tales" elements into standard AD&D. I think there was a nice box set available back in the day, and the art is pretty cool. Recommended

Vidgrip

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #5 on: June 24, 2021, 05:54:12 PM »
They are currently prepping a third edition and I imagine they will launch a kickstarter soon. The art will be updated and it will be separated into two books. Combat will be streamlined a bit, but I think it may still be too crunchy for me. Nothing about the setting changes, as far as I know. The stated intent is that everything will be backward compatible.
Playing: John Carter of Mars, Hyperborea
Running: Swords & Wizardry Complete

Jaeger

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #6 on: June 24, 2021, 07:45:32 PM »
I like ASSH very much, its one of my favorite systems. Its rules are quite dense, and it expresses a few mechanics a bit different than normal (it has descending AC but uses an ascending score called Fighting ability instead of something like THAC0 which for whatever reason took me a second to get used to).
...

Unless you are specifically cloning a pre 3e edition of D&D; there is no reason not to use the current gaming standard of Ascending AC in your d20 based game. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Blows me away every time I see this.
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Pat
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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #7 on: June 24, 2021, 08:28:22 PM »
I like ASSH very much, its one of my favorite systems. Its rules are quite dense, and it expresses a few mechanics a bit different than normal (it has descending AC but uses an ascending score called Fighting ability instead of something like THAC0 which for whatever reason took me a second to get used to).
...

Unless you are specifically cloning a pre 3e edition of D&D; there is no reason not to use the current gaming standard of Ascending AC in your d20 based game. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Blows me away every time I see this.
Smaller numbers.

Blows me away every time I see people stating a subjective preference as an objective fact.

Slipshot762

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2021, 12:42:49 AM »
what classes are available in AS&SoH?

moonsweeper

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2021, 01:49:13 AM »
4 basic classes

Fighter
Magician
Cleric
Thief

Then there are optional subclasses for each of the 4 (GM discretion on access)

Fighter
Barbarian
Berserker
Cataphract
Huntsman
Paladin
Ranger
Warlock

Magician
Cryomancer
Illusionist
Necromancer
Pyromancer
Witch

Cleric
Druid
Monk
Priest
Runegraver
Shaman

Thief
Assassin
Bard
Legerdemainist
Purloiner
Scout
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Marchand

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2021, 04:46:24 AM »
4 basic classes

Fighter
Magician
Cleric
Thief

Then there are optional subclasses for each of the 4 (GM discretion on access)

Fighter
Barbarian
Berserker
Cataphract
Huntsman
Paladin
Ranger
Warlock
(...a bunch of other subclasses)

I haven't got my book with me but IIRC, the subclasses are the book's way of handling multiclassing. So you can be a fighter/cleric = paladin. But only at chargen - I don't think there was multiclassing after character creation. However I never got to play and it's been a while since I saw my book so I might be wrong.
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JeffB

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2021, 09:23:38 AM »
ASSH is specifically inspired by and a further development of AD&D 1st edition. There was absolutely zero reason to use ascending AC. It was not meant to be a "retroclone" with some modern sensibilities thrown in. Tits on a bull.

moonsweeper

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #12 on: June 25, 2021, 11:24:10 AM »
4 basic classes

Fighter
Magician
Cleric
Thief

Then there are optional subclasses for each of the 4 (GM discretion on access)

Fighter
Barbarian
Berserker
Cataphract
Huntsman
Paladin
Ranger
Warlock
(...a bunch of other subclasses)

I haven't got my book with me but IIRC, the subclasses are the book's way of handling multiclassing. So you can be a fighter/cleric = paladin. But only at chargen - I don't think there was multiclassing after character creation. However I never got to play and it's been a while since I saw my book so I might be wrong.

Yes, that is correct.  There is no multiclassing and a number of the subclasses fill that gap.
"I have a very hard time taking seriously someone who has the time and resources to protest capitalism, while walking around in Nike shoes and drinking Starbucks, while filming it on their iPhone."  --  Alderaan Crumbs

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TheShadowSpawn

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #13 on: June 25, 2021, 01:49:07 PM »
Our group had an online Session 0 last night where we generated characters and everyone was highly impressed. This group mainly plays B/X - OSE based games so the game's little bit of extra crunch was actually a nice surprise for them.

The inherent setting is fantastic imo. I simply don't have the time anymore to work on settings and background lore to the extent that I can make a well rounded setting. Hyperborea is an excellent mix of Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Vance and Gary Gygax.

One of the reasons I steer clear of DCCRPG is that it doesn't really have a default game setting and I find the Pundit's world a tad too gonzo for my taste.  I also have Hubris but it didn't quite sit right either. Of course with the Dying Earth KS just starting, I will reassess that next year. 

As far ascending AC, it is quite easy to just say that a characters FA (Fighting Ability) is their base attack bonus, and just flip the game's armor class. 

The one thing that kept me away from ASSH for a long time was convoluted initiative system. Its actually fairly easy but its presentation wasn't intuitive at all.

J. Talanian has been teasing new bits and pieces of the upcoming third edition of the game which thankfully cleaves closer to B/X d6 based initiative. He discusses the changes in this thread: https://hyperborea.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=1439&p=1

The upcoming kickstarter can be found here:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffreytalanian/hyperborea-3e

Cheers!


Jaeger

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Re: astonishing swordsmen & sorcerers of hyperborea
« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2021, 05:51:28 PM »
Smaller numbers.

Blows me away every time I see people stating a subjective preference as an objective fact.

For d20 games the industry standard is now ascending AC.

Unless you are appealing to a specific audience that wants the old standard - It’s like making a game that uses a d20 for task resolution but is not a d20 game – you are limiting your audience.

Of course people can make the game they want and no one can stop them.



ASSH is specifically inspired by and a further development of AD&D 1st edition. There was absolutely zero reason to use ascending AC.

Then he is making the game for a specific audience, which is his privilege.



It was not meant to be a "retroclone" with some modern sensibilities thrown in. Tits on a bull.

I guess I fall into the pro-ascending camp. It is just more intuitive for those who did not come up with descending being the standard.

I just don’t see how it would be titties on a bull to go with ascending AC.
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